International Conference on Enhancement and Innovation in Higher Education Crowne Plaza Hotel, Glasgow 9-11 June 2015

Dr Nicholas J Brewer School of Life Sciences: Learning + Teaching, University of Dundee Widening access to HE in partnership with FE Colleges: Supporting, developing and enabling students to succeed from disadvantaged backgrounds and make successful transitions

Life Sciences: A Strategic Vision for Transitions Within Life Sciences Programmes Life Sciences Transitions Pyramid

The First Transition: 3 days a week at Dundee + Angus College and 1 day a week at The University of Dundee Running average grade (mean ± 95%ci) of students from the College (16.7 ± 0.662) and Main intake (18.4 ± 0.837) during the first semester of first year. Asterisks above plot indicate significant differences using one-way ANOVA (F(1,48) = 8.943, p = ) with a power of 1 and effect size of

The Second Transition: 5 days a week at The University of Dundee Running average grade (mean ± 95%ci) of students from the College and Main intake during the first semester of second year. Means and confidence intervals for modules BS21001 College (15.6 ± 1.22), Main intake (16.6 ± 1.04); BS21002 College (12.8 ± 1.36), Main intake (16.6 ± 1.54); BS21003 College (16.2 ± 1.199), Main intake (18.7 ± 0.718); BS21004 College (18.5 ± 0.662), Main intake (19.1 ± 0.623). Module codes given above plot with asterisks indicating significant differences using one-way ANOVA; BS21002 (F(1,48) = 6.527, p = ) with a power of 1 and an effect size of 0.136; for BS21003 (F(1,48) = 13.08, p = ) with a power of 1 and an effect size of

Comparison of Cohorts Performance Boxplot of the change in individual performance expressed as the difference between 1 st and 2 nd year running averages, comparing the College and Main intake group. One-way ANOVA indicates no significant change in performance between these years (F(1,48) = 0.001, p = 0.971).

Retention? 2014/15: Not all data in, but provisionally looks like a much better retention is likely for the Associate students (12 out of 15) September will be when this is confirmed.

Student Feedback Do you think spending one day a week at the University in level 1, then coming to University full time at Level 2 was a good experience for you? Yes, as a very mature student it took away some of the apprehension I had about returning to study. It was to have an idea of what's required and expected from theory models like taking notes from lectures, finding a way to ask questions if there was any ( ing the lecturer, making an appointment to have a meeting). To have a chance to experience the dynamics of a workshop and see what type of work has to be done before hand and how these are structure in relation to independent work outside classes. It was a good experience to try different methods of working in lectures and applying the notes to study. Another point was the opportunity to work on a group essay.

Student Feedback How did you feel the transition from level 1 (one day a week at the University) to level 2 (five days a week at the University) went? Which areas (if any) did you have the most difficulty with? I don't feel that the change in days made any difference. Apart from a much more busy timetable the main difficulty was to find a way in which I felt comfortable taking notes (hand writing, printing the power point before the lecture or using my laptop) with and also trying to figure out the best way of working through them after the lectures to make sure they would be useful when it came to revision. It was hard to find a study method that was easy to revise with. It was easier to learn topics that were in the recommended reading or that were mentioned on the workshops rather than topics only explained during lectures.

Student Feedback Do you think you would you have benefitted from doing some practical work alongside the theory modules at Level 1? No, as practical work is also part of the curriculum at D&A College. *Keeping the lab book updated as the different practicals were carried out which were completely different from the structure of practical classes in college, it was quite struggle at the beginning since I was used to get a full description and explanation of the different steps to carry out the experiments before starting any type of practical and the structure and sections of the lab report were given to us. Also, the working through calculations was sometimes complicated as the formulas used or the topics were not explained in college. An example would be thermodynamics. *comment from an associate student

Looking Forward… Co-curriculum and associate students do the same number of modules: one in semester 1 and one during semester 2 During matriculation week, the returning students will spend a whole day in the lab doing basic lab skills such as pipetting, plate streaking, making solutions Previously Life Sciences ‘ideally’ have had 15 Co-curriculum students and 15 Associate students, ie a maximum of 30 students. Looking forward the University would like Life Sciences to have 20 associate students and 15 co-curriculum students To enhance the pastoral side of the D+A College to UoD transition as well as the level 1 to level 2 transition of the returning students